• This community needs YOUR help today. We rely 100% on Supporting Memberships to fund our efforts. With the ever increasing fees of everything, we need help. We need more Supporting Members, today. Please invest back into this community. I will ship a few decals too in addition to all the account perks you get.



    Sign up here: https://www.muzzleloadingforum.com/account/upgrades
  • Friends, our 2nd Amendment rights are always under attack and the NRA has been a constant for decades in helping fight that fight.

    We have partnered with the NRA to offer you a discount on membership and Muzzleloading Forum gets a small percentage too of each membership, so you are supporting both the NRA and us.

    Use this link to sign up please; https://membership.nra.org/recruiters/join/XR045103

Slix Shot Nipples

Muzzleloading Forum

Help Support Muzzleloading Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Hi Marc, what sort of problems were you having with the stock nipples? Those are Uberti right?
What brand and size caps have you been using? How are you putting them on; capper or fingers?
 
I'll weigh in on this even though it's a little late. I went to the slix shot cones (Badman Bullets) and have been very pleased. I replaced originals on both a brasser 1851 44 and a Remington 1858 44. The brasser, previously was a chronic cap fowler. The remington, only occasionally. That problem has 100% disappeared. In my case it was really a cap size problem as the only caps on can find locally are Remington 11's (too large), and Remington 10's (too small). Remington 10's and the slix shot are perfect combination. I did not do the JB weld on the 1851, thought about it early, be find "cap sticking" is not an issue with the better cap fit. I also now fire 100% triple7 with no ignition problems ever.
 
Yesterday I received the Slix Shot nipples I had ordered two days before. I have an Uberti 1851 Navy, which has never fired more that three shots without jamming. I removed the stock Uberti nipples and inserted the Slix Shots. I ran off ten shots without a hiccup! I am sold on their effectiveness. Before I purchased them I contacted the owner, Patrick Reagan, about the ability to still use my Cash rachet; he assured me I could, and he was right. A few days before I had ordered nipples from another source, and the wrench would not fit. They were returned and the Slix Shots ordered. I love the rachet nipple wrench and the Slix Shots. I was using CCI #11 and have not used the JB Weld adjustment to the hammer.
 
Glad the nipples are working for you guys. I love them. If/when I get another percussion revolver, I will install them on it.
I use real black powder at times, but I've also used 777 in mine with great results. Shoots well with it!
 
Just so you know, some people have received their slix-shot nipples with burrs at the ignition holes.

You may need to carefully remove these with a needle file or something similar, I had to do it with mine.

I suppose these burrs might also eventually fire out with use, still it would probably be a good idea to file them off instead.
 
Gentlemen,
I ordered some slix nipples, found they don't fit my early 1970's colts. I did find though, fitting new standard nipples from TOW worked a treat. I did cowboy action for about 12months and only used my Navy and 3rd Mod Dragoon. Found the Navy would jam regularly, so put in a new set of nipples and look no jams !! I found after regular use after about 15 months I started getting jams again, so another new set of nipples from TOW were fitted and lo, no more jams !! I guess the biggest problem is the nipples gas cut over time, then spread cap fragments every where. New nipples seem just to allow the cap to split into 3 and the wings stay together. Occasionally I get a cap stick to the hammer face, but as I am only target shooting now, there is time to check after each shot, and it happens only rarely.
 
I ordered some more for my Pietta New Model Army model which I specified this model on a sub note in my order.

Back when I ordered them for my brasser Colt '51 Navy style revolver I also specified them for Pietta stating the specific model.

There is a difference if ordering for Uberti or Pietta.

When I looked at the ones I got for my Remington I noticed that there was a counter-sunk hole on the bottom of the chamber end of the nipple, resulting in a venturi-like flash hole, yet on the others that I ordered for my Colt Brasser it was not really counter-sunk at the flash hole but more of concave depression at the bottom end.

So either there is a difference on the nipples for each Colt and Remington styles and not just the pistol manufacturers, or the makers of Slix-shot just changed the design a little bit.

I still had to file tiny burrs off the drilled side vent holes with the new set as well.

But I think this might be pretty good accessory for my cap and ball revolvers in the long run.
 
The only things that are really important about the nipples for cap & ball pistols is that the thread size is correct for the gun you have and the nipples are the short style made for cap & ball revolvers.

Single shot pistols and rifles usually use a much longer nipple than the cap & ball revolvers use.

There are several designs for the bottom end of the nipples. Some are counterbored like the ones you mention. Some are totally flat on the end and some have a tapered countersink.
Likewise, the upper end is usually counterbored but somewhere between the ends, a much smaller hole is drilled thru the nipple.

The size of this small hole is important and it should be left small, like the factory made it.

Some people, thinking they are going to improve the nipples will drill out that small (.030) diameter hole using a 1/16" drill bit (.0625).
That is a good way to ruin the nipples and to guarantee the hammer will blow back when the chamber fires.

Some nipples have a small cross drilled hole up in the area of the cone where the cap sits.

These nipples usually blow the cap apart when the gun fires.
While that is good for some rifles and single shot pistols, it's benefit for cap & ball revolvers is debatable.
 
I've been using Slix Shot nipples on a pair of Pietta US Marshals as well as a pair Ruger Old Army revolvers for CAS competition. I've experienced perfect results from both pairs of revolvers using both Remington #10 and Remington #11 caps. Both pairs of revolvers are fully tuned and utilize reduced power mainsprings. (Wolff for Uberti in the Piettas, and Wolff 19 lb. in the Old Armies).
Shooting in Frontiersman category has been an absolute joy partly because of the reliability I have enjoyed with my equipment. Big thanks to Slix for a great design.

I did not fill the safety notch in the Pietta hammers but I did polish the hammer faces to a mirror finish and slightly broke the edges of the notch (not sharp edges). I have not experienced any cap fragment jams with only that modification to the hammer.

I have to credit the articles written by Larsen Pettifogger on tuning the Piettas mentioned previously in this thread. Great information right there. They allowed me to quickly and easily transform the Pietta US Marshals into fantastic shooting competition worthy C&B revolvers.
 
Bad Man Bullets is where I got my Slixshot nipples. They are on all my hand guns except the 1862 Police Colt. Those along with a cap rake make a C&B gun very reliable. I have a pair of 1860 Army Cotls with somewhere over 600 total rounds and the ONLY cap jam was caused bu using RWS1075 caps which DO NOT work on Slixshot nipples. My load is 20 grain volume FFFg GOEX a lubricated home made felt wad and a .451 ball. Not a max load, but not a wimp load.
YMMV
WB
 
Bad Man/Slix Shot nipples turned my ROA from a "problem child" with its original (factory new) and, later Uncle Mike's replacement nipples to a most reliable (and very accurate) shooter. I highly recommend them!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top